Celebrate Irvington: Historic Hudson River Village
This Sunday, June 21, enjoy a day of family-friendly activities to “Celebrate Irvington” a small, walkable, nationally recognized historic village on the Hudson River. Relaxing by the river, hiking The Old Croton Aqueduct State Park trail, or riding the trolley - this celebration day is a great choice for Father’s Day fun. There will also be live music performed by the High School Chorus, 6th Grade String Ensemble, the Irvington Middle School and High School bands, the Main Street School Singers and Guitar Ensemble, the Griffins, Jagger Nick on Piano and Tiver Jive Jazz Combo. A special thanks to Deb Tuzman from the IUFSD Music Department. This is a rain or shine event. Details at: "Celebrate Irvington"
Third Thursday at Sunnyside
If you cannot wait until Sunday for a fun event, I hope you will join me at “Third Thursday” tonight at 5:30 at Sunnyside Federal. This is a special “welcome to the Rivertowns” event where we will welcome our new neighbors. In fact, we urge you to bring someone who is new to the area or anyone that wants to meet more of their neighbors. I would like to extend a special thank you to Sunnyside Federal President Timothy D. Sullivan and Vice President of Business Development David J. Van Osdol for continuing to organize fun and informative events each month.
Village Volunteer Opportunities
The Village has numerous opportunities for you to volunteer if you are interested in getting more involved in our community. From fighting fires to serving on a volunteer board, there are many ways to help. The Trustees and I feel strongly that one of the keys to preserving and improving our quality of life is to enhance our citizens’ role in its local government. There are currently openings on our Environmental Conservation Board, Tree Commission, Zoning Board, and others. Please contact me at my e-mail address below if you are interested.
Westchester County Hazard Mitigation Plan
The Village of Irvington is working along with the folks at Westchester County to develop a hazard mitigation plan so that we continue to be eligible to receive Federal grant funding for projects to reduce our risk to natural hazards such as flooding and severe storms. Irvington had previously worked with the Town of Greenburgh to develop a plan, but now will be joining with the County’s effort. Available funding can support projects such as drainage improvements and backup power for schools and critical facilities. Your input is needed. To find out more, review the draft plan and have the opportunity to provide input, please visit the project website (http://www.westchesterhmp.com/) and take our citizen preparedness and mitigation survey at http://ow.ly/MtYVb
Dog Park
At the May 18th meeting, the Board approved a small contract with a consultant to provide us with a preliminary layout of a dog park at a site identified adjacent to the Irvington Reservoir. The consultant is being paid for by a volunteer group of residents that asked us to look at the possibility of building a dog park.
I can assure you that neither the Board of Trustees nor the Recreation and Parks Advisory Committee has made a final determination about whether a dog park should be built at this location. The layout will simply help us better determine whether the site is appropriate for a dog park or not. There will be much more public discussion on the topic as we move forward.
Dogs on Leashes
Speaking of dogs, I want to remind all dog owners that it is the law that all dogs must be on a leash when in public places. This includes while walking on sidewalks or through the Irvington Woods. I routinely observe dogs being allowed to run free in the Woods. We have had several scary incidents where off-leash dogs have harassed residents or even attacked their leashed dogs. Please adhere to the law.
I hope to see you around the Village. Please never hesitate to contact me with thoughts and concerns.
Brian C. Smith
bsmith@irvingtonny.gov